Wessex Poems And Other Verses

Thomas Hardy

Wessex Poems was Hardys first collection of poetry, published after he had turned away from novel writing, disillusioned by the savage reception Jude the Obscure had received. Its publication marked the start of an extraordinary new phase in Hardys writing career: for the rest of his long life, he would write only poetry. Here are sprightly Dorset ballads, verses set during the Napoleonic Wars, and personal poems reflecting on Hardys life and loves. Composed throughout Hardys life and animated by his affection for his beloved Wessex, their publication in 1898 heralded the arrival of a major new poetic voice.

Table of contents

• PREFACE
• THE TEMPORARY THE ALL
• AMABEL
• HAP
• “IN VISION I ROAMED”
• AT A BRIDAL
• POSTPONEMENT
• A CONFESSION TO A FRIEND IN TROUBLE
• NEUTRAL TONES
• SHE AT HIS FUNERAL
• HER INITIALS
• HER DILEMMA (IN –- CHURCH)
• REVULSION
• SHE, TO HIM–I
• SHE, TO HIM–II
• SHE, TO HIM–III
• SHE, TO HIM–IV
• DITTY
• THE SERGEANT'S SONG
• VALENCIENNES
• SAN SEBASTIAN
• THE STRANGER'S SONG
• THE BURGHERS
• LEIPZIG
• THE PEASANT'S CONFESSION
• THE ALARM
• HER DEATH AND AFTER
• THE DANCE AT THE PHOENIX
• THE CASTERBRIDGE CAPTAINS
• A SIGN-SEEKER
• MY CICELY
• HER IMMORTALITY
• THE IVY-WIFE
• A MEETING WITH DESPAIR
• UNKNOWING
• FRIENDS BEYOND
• TO OUTER NATURE
• THOUGHTS OF PHENA AT NEWS OF HER DEATH
• MIDDLE-AGE ENTHUSIASMS
• IN A WOOD
• TO A LADY OFFENDED BY A BOOK OF THE WRITER'S
• TO AN ORPHAN CHILD - A WHIMSEY
• NATURE'S QUESTIONING
• THE IMPERCIPIENT
• AT AN INN
• THE SLOW NATURE
• IN A EWELEAZE NEAR WEATHERBURY
• THE FIRE AT TRANTER SWEATLEY'S
• HEIRESS AND ARCHITECT
• THE TWO MEN
• LINES
• “I LOOK INTO MY GLASS”